Jazz Fest builds on its roots after humble start

Henry Aerins (not shown) uses his hat to fan some air on Melanie Ku, of Hong Kong, for a little relief from the warm temperatures. This was Ku's first visit to the festival.

(AP Photo/Doug Parker)

Photo By Leon Morris/Getty

Second line parade featuring Tornado Brass Band with Young Men Olympia Aid, New Look and and First Division Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs parading on the grounds of the New Orleans Jazz And Heritage Festival

Photo By Leon Morris/Getty

Crowd scene at the Economy Hall stage at the New Orleans Jazz And Heritage Festival

Photo By Doug Parker/Getty

Steve Yanisch of Minneapolis, chows down on a Cochon de Lait (pork sandwich). This was his first visit to Jazz Fest.

Manoel Salustiano, from Brazil, sews a Maracata banner at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans. The sights and sounds of Brazil were featured as part of the festival's tribute to countries that have contributed to New Orleans' culture.

At the Acura Stage during the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans.

(AP Photo/Doug Parker)

Photo By Gerald Herbert/AP

FILE - In a Friday, May 3, 2013 photo, a member of the zydeco band BeauSoliel performs at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans. The 45th annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival begins a two-weekend-run Friday, April 25, 2014, showcasing a blend of traditional jazz and performances by pop stars that are expected to draw hundreds of thousands of visitors and fill the city’s hotels. The festival began in 1970.

Photo By Janet McConnaughey/AP

Jazz clarinetist Orange Kellin stands in the courtyard of his apartment in New Orleans' French Quarter on Thursday April, 24, 2014. Kellin played in the New Orleans Ragtime Orchestra at the first New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival 45 years ago in a Treme neighborhood park, and is performing with his own band at the 45th Jazz Fest.

Photo By Janet McConnaughey/AP

Jazz clarinetist Orange Kellin stands in the courtyard of his apartment in New Orleans' French Quarter on Thursday April, 24, 2014. Kellin played in the New Orleans Ragtime Orchestra at the first New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival 45 years ago in a Treme neighborhood park, and is performing with his own band at the 45th Jazz Fest.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Jazz clarinetist Orange Kellin remembers playing the first New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 1970, when small crowds turned out to see a handful of performances.

"I miss the early days," Kellin said. "I miss all the local talent, emphasizing local people, regional people."

The first Jazz Fest had four stages for gospel, jazz, and Cajun and zydeco performers. There was an open tent with an upright piano on the grass where gospel groups took turns singing, said festival producer Quint Davis.

With Jazz Fest overlapping the Zurich Classic golf tournament and an orthodontics convention, hotel occupancy was projected at nearly 99 percent. The second weekend, occupancy is expected to be around 95 percent. Industry officials said there are more than 36,000 hotel rooms in the area.

Romig said Jazz Fest attracts national and international fans — more than 100,000 are expected — in addition to hundreds of thousands from around the region.

Riding around the Fair Grounds Race Course, where the festival moved in 1972, Davis said he's in awe of the festival's growth. In 1970, there were fewer than 400 attendees. One of the organizers went to a nearby school and asked if the students could take a field trip to the festival to boost attendance, he recalled. Last year's festival drew 425,000 people.

"Here we are 45 festivals later and it's pretty amazing, when you think about all the changes that have happened in that time with society, the economy," Davis said. "Our advantage is the culture of New Orleans, because the culture of New Orleans is not a fad."

Three stages are tied to New Orleans jazz and Louisiana culture, with at least 27 brass bands, many Mardi Gras Indian troupes and more than 50 gospel groups with roughly 2,000 singers.

The festival has set its lineup to complement big-name global talent with local performers, Davis said.

"It's the same palate, musically, that we had that first year in Congo Square," Davis said. "There's more of it, but it's rhythm and blues. It's gospel. It's second-lines. It's everything that we started with, just really grown up."